


I Won't Leave You

by IoanNemos



Series: Start Here [5]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: (sort of), ::crawls over finish line two years after starting:: it's done... merry Christmas..., Blood, F/M, Gen, Language, Sickfic, also fwiw this entire thing ended up in second person somehow..., i might have gotten away with rating this one lower but i figured better safe than sorry, rated for:, references to violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 03:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17092922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IoanNemos/pseuds/IoanNemos
Summary: "He will lose so much, and you will watch it all happen / because you had him first, and you would let the world / break its own neck if it means keeping him."Caitlyn Siehl, "Start Here"The care and keeping of Nate.





	1. Sam

**Author's Note:**

> ENDLESS thanks to those who have commented, sent kudos, and just generally encouraged me. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back to re-read comments. I'm not sure what cleared the logjam but here it is, the last work in this series. I hope you enjoy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To keep him safe, you keep him close.

A lot of things change along with your last name, among them how Nathan learns to be light-fingered in more than one way. You can almost see his understanding of ownership curve, bend, then break-- things are his once he’s decided he wants them, and you don’t argue anymore, because the only things he has according to society are the things that fit in one ratty backpack and after what’s been taken from him, he deserves so much more than that.

You keep him fed, keep him clothed, keep him alive. You keep him on his feet, keep him moving, keep both of you pushing in on this quest that seems to shatter into a new fractal at every intersection. Sometimes you leave him behind to keep reading while you claim you’re going to hunt down something and instead get a little drunk- never hammered, never out of control, just to soften the harshness of your own edges. Just to mask the repeated reflections that blur into darkness. You steal, so you’re thieves; you’re thieves, so you’re criminals; you’re criminals, so you find yourself teaching a fourteen-year-old with wide brown eyes and an artist’s fingers how to reload a machine gun while blood wells between your fingers and drips slowly down your arm.

Things change, and they change, and they change. Names, at times; home base, often; short term goals, too swiftly to keep track of, sometimes. But some things never change. Loyalty. Commitment. Defiance of anyone in the way. The two of you press your way into progress and likely as not shoot your way out, and it’s not good, but it’s fine. It’s… expected, after a while. You start to forget when it used to be different. You start to wonder if Nathan ever knew.

(You hope not.)


	2. Sully

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To keep him close, you adopt a light touch.

The kid probably weighs a buck twenty-five soaking wet, and he just went through a growth spurt so he looks gangly as hell, arms too long for his torso, ankles showing over his shoes. He’s also trying not to cough, or at least hide from you that he’s coughing by muffling it in his shoulder. You’d give him a cuff but he’s out of reach and your feet ache from walking all day so you aren’t about to get up. “Kid, I ain’t so old I’m deaf. Quit trying to hide it-- you’re gonna bust a blood vessel or something.”

The kid’s ears redden. “It’s not a big deal,” he says.

There’s enough of a rasp in his voice that you wince. “Christ, how long have you been coughing? Why didn’t you tell me before I left this morning? I would’ve brought back something for you.”

“It’s fine,” Nate says shortly. “Once I’m done copying I’ll get some more water.”

“Hell with water. You need something with vitamin C.” You stand with a soft groan. “You like oranges, right? Or was that your brother?”

Nate’s pencil sweeps over the paper, one leg beginning to jitter under the table. “I like oranges,” he says eventually, neutrally. There’s tension building in his narrow shoulders.

“Okay. Anything else you want?”

“Don’t baby me,” Nate snaps, whirling in his chair. His defensiveness comes out of nowhere, sometimes, in places it hurts to see. Maybe that shows in your face, because his loosens into uncertainty after a moment.

“I ain’t babying you,” you say, carefully. “I’m taking care of you. That’s what partners are supposed to do, isn’t it?”

He goes still, then relaxes. “Yeah, I… I guess.”

It makes you shudder, sometimes, thinking about what could’ve happened to make both of them so twitchy.


	3. Elena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With time, he's learned how to stay.

“Hi, Daddy!” Cassie chirps, getting up from her toys to run across the room, and you look up from your paperwork.

“Hi, baby,” Nate croaks, leaning in the doorway to run his fingers through her hair. “I’d give you a kiss but I don’t want you to get what I got.”

“Why are you up?” you ask, standing. “Are you feeling any better?”

Nate shakes his head slowly. He looks even worse than he did (you glance at your watch) roughly seven hours ago. “Just got up for tylenol,” he rasps, then buries his face his elbow for another string of ugly coughs.

You send a few more negative thoughts in Sam’s direction (“I hope he feels an inexplicable cold chill” kind of thoughts, though, not “I hope his boat capsizes”). Okay, so he was an insufficiently-informed teenager, but Nate was a child when they started their life of adventure or whatever the hell they want to call it, and that generally precluded things like, say, regular doctor visits. Years of pushing through pain and working through illness have taken their toll, both physically and mentally, and it’s still a challenge for Nate to slow down and take care of himself. “Have a seat. I’ll get it.”

When you come back, Cassie is explaining something while Nate attempts to pay attention, “Uh-huh,” he says before downing the pills and then draining the glass of apple juice. “I gotta go back to bed, Cassie. You can tell me more when I’m feeling better, okay?”

Cassie nods solemnly before hugging his knees. “Okay, Daddy. Be careful.”

Nate’s startled laugh turns into another coughing fit. You hide your smile behind your hand. “I will,” Nate manages at last, standing carefully. He gives you a look of bewildered happiness before retreating to the bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this journey as much (or more) than I have. :)


End file.
